GSP Offshore Dips a Toe in Barents Sea

Romania's Grup Servicii Petroliere (GSP) to start drilling in June, admitting it has no experience of drilling operations in the Arctic.

Operations are scheduled to start at the beginning of June and will be carried out in Dolginskoye oil field, located in the Pechora Sea, in the south eastern part of the Barents Sea, the continental shelf of the Russian Federation.

MODU GSP Jupiter will perform the drilling, logging, completion and testing of North-Dolginskaya № 3 well. A fleet of four offshore support vessels including two owned by GSP will assist the rig during the drilling operations scheduled in the Pechora Sea.

GSP Jupiter is currently being mobilized to operate offshore Tunisia, to drill Hammamet West-3 within the Bargou Exploration Permit.

“It is well known that the exploration of Arctic fields is more technically challenging than any other environment. So this project in the Pechora Sea comes as a recognition of our expertise in drilling operations and marks GSP`s debut in the Arctic offshore operations. Since 2004, our company has invested 1.35 billion USD (approx. one billion EUR) in the acquisition and modernization of its vessels and drilling rigs, including the extensive upgrade of GSP Jupiter, which is now ready to face the challenges of the harsh weather conditions, said Gabriel Valentin Comanescu, President and CEO of Grup Servicii Petroliere”